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DarkWolf

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Timestamp	Since previous	Game		DarkWolf's comment
Oct 9 04:57:38		Spud Customs	♥ 2	I think its clear that the work here wasn't inventing a whole new game, just putting a comedic spin on every last detail. Overall a solid amount of content for the time constraints, and a good attention to detail. I even like that you mirrored the layout of the whole game for your parody. Not a lot of replayability even with what looks like randomly generated rules, but a fun couple of minutes seeing your spin on the game and basking in all of the different potato puns. Only technical feedback is that the crunched potato photos feel out of place with the otherwise clean art style, and I had the same confusion with the stamp controls that @bitluderrb7804fr did. I think its just that clicking both mouse buttons at once is rare enough that I assumed you set down the stamp, then stamp it. This is also probably made worse by Papers Please having you pull out the stamp rack, then interact with the stamp. I think a touch of tutorialization there and it would be fine. Overall a good time.
Oct 9 06:48:14	1h 50m	Leafling builders	♥ 5	I love the atmosphere of the game, and it is a charming artstyle. I especially liked how just about everything had some movement to it. My only critiques are that the camera felt too disconnected from the character to be entirely comfortable, but not enough to for it to feel separately controlled, that the parallax on the background has a couple issues, and that a few leaves at the bottom of the screen were hard to see. For the camera control, I think that either making it more closely follow the player or giving it independent movement in an area around the character would fix it. With the background parallax it looks like it is tied to the player's position not the camera position, and also it moves way to fast when you jump. I think that fixing the camera controls would also make leaves near the bottom of the screen harder to miss. Overall these are small issues in a really charming game!
Oct 9 07:17:27	29m 13s	Little Chef	♥ 2	I like the concept and the controls feel pretty good in game (I'd tweak the keybindings but that is personal preference, and I'd make grabbing a held action instead of toggled). The art is cute and the music is charming. The only problems are that the kitchen seems to missing all of its chili peppers, and there are a number of bugs in the game. One time I couldn't cut anything after going to a different tab and back, another I was somehow cutting without holding the knife, and another I cut a bell pepper but got back another slice of the tomato I previously cut. While the bugs tank the replay value of the jam version, I'd absolutely come back to play an improved and expanded version of the game. In fact, I'm almost tempted to make my own game with the same controls, just different theming, if you wouldn't mind. I think the concept could definitely be expanded to a bigger game, it mainly just needs more polish and more interactions with things. I see the rat holes, what if you could interact with them? Maybe you have multiple appliances and need to juggle a lone power outlet. If you mess up a soup you should be able to dump it out somewhere. The list goes on. For controls I'd either make the number pad be 8-way movement instead of just the four arrow key equivalents, or make 7 and 9 move you side to side like q and e.
Oct 10 00:09:32	16h 52m	Quantum Swarm	♥ 1	Amazing work for a game jam, especially for your first jam. I have definitely made the mistake before of neglecting sound for more content, and this time around I was surprised by just how much of a difference a couple sounds made for my game. I am definitely coming back to play with the sandbox mode. In playing through the campaign the only things I would suggest are adding sounds, and its a little thing but maybe slap some custom colors/theming on the itch.io page. Overall the pixel art for the circuits looks great, and I want to explore what all you can do in sandbox mode. I might have some more quality of life suggestions once I mess with the sandbox more, but for now as a lover of this type of puzzle game, this is so far one of the most satisfying games I've played from the jam.
Oct 10 00:31:33	22m 01s	Tiny Trails	♥ 1	I like the concept, the character designs are fun, and the levels are well designed. It reminds me of kind of the inverse of that old flash game Meeblings, where the different creatures respond differently to the cursor directly, instead of using different abilities of each creature type as a tool to work with the others. The main issue that comes to mind is just the lack of sound. The only other tweak I can think of (beyond just adding more levels) is automatically restarting the level a second or two after it becomes impossible due to not enough creatures. Overall a nice entry, I just want sound to go with it. Good work.
Oct 10 05:56:29	5h 24m	Stolen Colors	♥ 2	I really like the concept of the game, but it is deceptively difficult. It took me a couple tries to get past the first fight due to learning the game, and I still haven't beaten the first fight of level 2. I agree with the feedback above about how the time based prep phases encourages faster drawing instead of smarter, and how some way to judge your army's stats would be nice. For other suggestions, I think that it would be nice to make the spawn symbols more distinct. Right now you have to waste time hovering over the symbols to learn if the sword, the sword with a plus, or the other sword with a plus is the add fighter symbol. I think the artwork changing as you take back colors is a really cool idea, and nicely executed here. The music wasn't a wow for me, but it got the job done. The only potential bug I ran into was one where some fighters stood basically still for a few seconds, then moved forward for a few, rinse and repeat, while the rest of the army moved at a steadier pace. Overall I like the game a lot.
Oct 11 07:01:55	25h 05m	In the Depths	♥ 1	Its a very cool setting and atmosphere you've created here. I was definitely unnerved when I realized "that's not a rock, that's moving!", only to then realize "that's not a monster, that's a whale!". My only critiques are that I thought that first text of "..." was a loading screen for a good thirty seconds, the bubbling sounds seem a little out of place for the middle of the ocean with it sounding more like a mic held underwater than what I expect a fish would hear, and that the physics on the player fish felt off due to it overshooting then wobbling back to center. Real creatures don't tend to overshoot by much at all, so it seemed more mechanical than fish like. Overall a really cool little experience, especially having the whale for a sense of scale!
Oct 23 06:13:56	287h 12m	Insecticide Express	♥ 0	Simple but effective. I like the art style, the sound effects are satisfyingly crunchy, and the core gameplay is super simple to pick up (with one exception). It wasn't intuitive for me how to get the powerups. At first I tried shooting them, but since that didn't work I assumed that they just activated when getting to the city. It took reading a few comments here to realize that wasn't it, though using the train to catch it was the first idea I had after going back to figure it out. I agree with the feedback that the last speed upgrade is almost too fast, though after a few waves it started to feel nicely responsive, just a little unpredictable. Only other design feedback was that I needed upgrades start, heals at the end, and instead largely got the opposite of what I needed at both extremes of the wave count, though the middle waves were nicely balanced. The only non-insect bug I encountered was that the bullet spread would eventually get offset from the train's angle. The left edge of the fully upgraded shots were just to the right of the cannon's centerline. Score: 1392 on Wave 13 (attempt 3, the first after understanding powerups)